Words of Life

There is a video out on Youtube about a blind man. He is sitting on the sidewalk in a large city. He has placed a tin can in front of him and occasionally someone walking by drops in a coin. There is a cardboard sign beside him that reads, "Blind. Need help."

The man patiently waits and listens to the sounds of people's feet rushing by, the sound of an occasional coin hitting the other coins in the can. After a few minutes, the man turns his head towards the sound of some high-heeled leather boots as they approach. The boots stop in front of the blind man. He reaches out and touches them, feeling their smooth leather surface. A young woman bends down, but instead of placing a coin in the can, she takes the cardboard sign and turns it over. Then she writes something on it and places it beside the man. She walks away.

Something has changed. Almost all the people passing by are now putting in coins. Some put in many coins at once. Some are stuffing in dollar bills. The man has to empty the can again and again.

Towards evening, the young woman returns. She stops in front of the blind man and he touches her leather boots. She bends down to talk to him.

"What did you write on my sign?" he asks.

"I wrote the same thing that you wrote. Only I used different words," she said.

The camera spans out so that the viewer can read the sign for the first time. It reads, "It is a beautiful day. But I cannot see it."

Words. They have immense power. They can illicit generosity or cut someone to the heart. What comes from your mouth effects not only you but those around you. You influence the course of your life by the words that you choose to use.

Andy was in fifth grade and he was on top of the world. He was swinging in the park beside Celeste, one of the prettiest girls in school. They were swinging higher and higher. "I am the king of the world!" he thought to himself. "I am smart, I am handsome and I am swinging with the prettiest girl in school!"

Celeste turned to look at him as they were swinging. And then she said it.

"You have an ugly profile."

Andy did not know what a profile was but he hated the word ugly. "What is a profile?" he asked.

"It is how you look from the side. You have a big nose," she said.

Andy swung lower and lower. He got off the swing and ran home, rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He had always thought he was handsome, but he had never looked at himself from the side. He turned his head. Sure enough, his nose stuck way out.

YOU HAVE AN UGLY PROFILE.

The words would stick in his mind for YEARS. The silly words of a fifth grade girl. And from that day forward, Andy never thought of himself as handsome again.

Words can redefine a person. They can drag you down. They can build you up. But in our rush to get our words out, to accomplish more and say more, we forget that every single word we speak or write is full of power.

King Solomon was able to build an incredible temple to worship God. The Hebrew people had never dared to build a temple before. Yahweh was too vast, too mighty to be contained in a building. The reason that Solomon was able to accomplish this immense task was because of a promise that God had made to his father, David. God spoke to David, telling him that his son would build a temple. And these words were what made it possible for Solomon to conceive of such a thing. Solomon was given a word of encouragement from God.

What are the words that you speak to your loved ones? Do you build them up or do you tear them down? Do you realize the power of your words?

Jesus' words were so powerful that they could change lives. He spoke what he called "words of eternal life." These words could cause people to leave their work and their families behind and follow him. His words could provoke anger and hatred, even the desire to kill him. His words have echoed through the centuries, changing the lives of millions. To this day, we steep ourselves in the words of Scripture to ground ourselves and listen to God.

A pastor named Craig wrote about his life as a newly ordained minister. One day, a young man came to see him in his office. The young man was severely depressed. Craig had never witnessed someone in so much mental pain. He asked the young man, "Do you think about dying?"

The young man said, "Yes, all the time. All I can think of, over and over again, is how I should be dead. I don't deserve to be alive."

Craig was stunned. He had never heard such self-loathing before. "Please, God," he prayed. "Help me to find the words to say to this man..."

Craig jumped up and ran to his desk. He got out a piece of paper. "I am going to write numbers one to a hundred on this piece of paper. I want you to tell me one hundred reasons why it is good that you are alive; one hundred reasons why it is good for you to be here. I will sit with you for as long as it takes for us to do this."

The young man looked like a deer in headlights. "But I can't think of one thing!" he said.

"Yes, you can! Just start with one thing. One thing!!"

"I can write," the man said quietly.

"Great work!!" Craig cried.

Craig encouraged and coaxed and begged. Finally, after almost three hours, they had a list of one hundred things. The man left his office and Craig did not hear from him again. He prayed for this man every day for years. He did not know whether the man was dead or alive.

After almost ten years, Craig ran into the man in the grocery store. He told Craig that he was married, that he had a job. With tears in his eyes, he pulled out of his wallet a worn and crumpled piece of paper. It was the list of 100 things. He had kept it all this time.

Hold onto the words of life that are given to you. Pay attention that you do not utter words of hatred to yourself or others. If you do, fight those words of hatred with the Word of God, the Word of Life.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth by speaking words. God said, "Let there be light!" And it was so. Words are the stuff of life itself, the stuff of creativity.

So my question to you is this: what will you say?

- The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead